Vaping helps people stop smoking – even when they don’t want to, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study, funded by CRUK published today shows that smokers who switch to vaping may be better able to stay smoke-free in the long term. And that even people who didn’t want to stop smoking, have eventually quit because they found vaping more enjoyable.

“E-cigarettes are at least 95 per cent less harmful than tobacco smoking, and they are now the most popular aid to quitting smoking in the UK. However the idea of using e-cigarettes to stop smoking, and particularly long-term use, remains controversial. We wanted to find out about how people use e-cigarettes to quit smoking – and whether vaping supports long-term smoking abstinence.”

The research team carried out in-depth interviews with 40 vapers. They asked them about their tobacco smoking history and prior quit attempts, and about how they started vaping, their vape set up, preferred flavours and strength, and whether they had switched to vaping in attempt to quit smoking. They also asked them about situations and experiences that caused them to relapse into tobacco smoking.

“We found that vaping may support long-term smoking abstinence,” said Dr Notley. “Not only does it substitute many of the physical, psychological, social and cultural elements of cigarette smoking, but it is pleasurable in its own right, as well as convenient and cheaper than smoking. Our study group also felt better in themselves – they noticed better respiratory function, taste and smell. But the really interesting thing we found was that vaping may also encourage people who don’t even want to stop smoking, to eventually quit.”

While most of the sample group reported long histories of tobacco smoking and multiple previous quit attempts, a minority (17 per cent) said they enjoyed smoking and had never seriously attempted to quit.

“These were our accidental quitters,” said Dr Notley. “They hadn’t intended to quit smoking and had tried vaping on a whim, or because they had been offered it by friends. They went on to like it, and only then saw it as a potential substitute for smoking.”

“Many people talked about how they saw vaping was a no pressure approach to quitting,” she added. While most of the group switched quickly and completely from smoking to vaping, some found themselves using both cigarettes and vaping, and then sliding towards stopping smoking.

“We found that people did occasionally relapse with a cigarette, mainly due to social or emotional reasons, but it didn’t necessarily lead to a full relapse. This study suggests that vaping is a viable long-term substitute for smoking, with substantial implications for tobacco harm reduction.”

Alison Cox, director of cancer prevention at Cancer Research UK, who funded the project said: “The evidence so far shows that e-cigarettes are far safer than tobacco. E-cigarettes do still contain nicotine which is addictive, but it’s not responsible for the major harms of smoking. This is why they have great potential as an aid to help people quit smoking for good. It’s great to see this early indication that e-cigarettes could encourage smokers who weren’t originally thinking of quitting to give up. But more research is needed to understand exactly how e-cigarettes are being used by people who don’t want to stop smoking and how often this results in quitting. E-cigarettes are just one option for quitting – your local Stop Smoking Service can give you free advice on the best method for you, and with their support you’ll have the best chance of success.”

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‘The unique contribution of e-cigarettes for tobacco harm reduction in supporting smoking relapse prevention’ is published in Harm Reduction Journal on June 20, 2018.

There is insufficient evidence to show that using nicotine patches for four weeks before a quit attempt (known as “preloading”) improves long-term smoking abstinence, finds a trial published by The BMJ this week.

The researchers found that nicotine preloading reduces craving intensity and seems to make quitting easier, but that this beneficial effect may have been masked by a concurrent reduction in the use of varenicline in the period after quit day. As varenicline is the most effective smoking cessation drug, this may have undermined the benefit of preloading.

If it were possible to overcome this unintended consequence, nicotine preloading “could lead to a worthwhile increase in long term smoking abstinence,” they say.

The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

Although there have been several new drugs for tobacco cessation since the 1970s, treatment has remained largely the same, with behavioural support to motivate and strengthen a person’s resolve to remain abstinent and drugs to reduce the strength of urges to smoke after quit day.

Some studies have suggested that using nicotine replacement therapy before a quit attempt is more effective than when used in the conventional way to support abstinence, while other studies suggest preloading has no effect.

A research team from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, led by Professor Paul Aveyard at the University of Oxford, set out to examine the effectiveness of a nicotine patch worn for four weeks before a quit attempt. Continue reading →

The Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group (TAG) conducts and facilitates systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the research evidence for tobacco cessation and prevention interventions. The group was founded in 1996 and in 2016 they conducted a stakeholder engagement project to celebrate the 20th anniversary of TAG and to identify future research priorities for the group and the wider tobacco control community.

Identify areas where further research is needed in the areas of tobacco control and smoking cessation.

Identify specific goals for Cochrane TAG

To explore novel ways to disseminate the findings of tobacco research, and Cochrane TAG’s findings.

The survey and workshop resulted in 183 unanswered research questions in the areas of tobacco, quitting smoking and eight priority research areas, including:

‘addressing inequalities’

‘treatment delivery’

electronic cigarettes’

‘initiating quit attempts’

‘young people’

‘mental health and substance abuse’

‘population-level interventions’

‘pregnancy’

Stakeholders who attended the workshop also discussed ways that the public health community and Cochrane TAG could act to move the field of tobacco control forward.

Through this report, Cochrane TAG want to share the identified unanswered questions with the wider tobacco research community to help them to decide the most important research to focus on in the future, and to decide the most important things to work on for Cochrane TAG.

This will involve updating existing reviews, beginning reviews on new topics, and looking in more detail at Cochrane TAG’s research methods.

Contrary to popular belief there are still many important unanswered questions in the field of tobacco control. In addition, it has been noted that many of the results of tobacco control questions are not always reaching their intended targets. Tobacco control stakeholders provide a rich source of information on how these uncertainties should be prioritised; by using this resource the likelihood that the findings of research are useful and will be implemented is much greater. The project was carried out with the hope that researchers and research funders will be able to use the priorities identified to inform their future practice, in the same way that Cochrane TAG are using them to inform new review topics, updates of reviews and methods development.

Cochrane TAG’s findings and implementation suggestions should be considered alongside the existing evidence base and clinical expertise.

GRAND is a Pfizer-supported independently reviewed competitive grants program awarding individual grants of up to $200,000 from a total fund in 2017 of $1 million to support projects which directly advance the use of pharmacotherapy for treating users of any nicotine or tobacco product in clinical practice. Of 486 applications received since 2008, 62 grants have been awarded.

Pfizer has called for Clinical research proposals that aim to increase the understanding of the mechanisms of tobacco and nicotine dependence and its treatment. The overall mission of the GRAND program is to advance the pharmacological treatment of tobacco and nicotine dependence.

Pharmacotherapy of smoking cessation and relapse, and / or its interaction with behavioral support;

Characterization of subtypes of smokers; suitability for appropriate interventions.

Research projects should aim to provide information that could directly advance the use of pharmacotherapy for treating users of any nicotine or tobacco product in clinical practice. Examples could include:

Observational or interventional studies of pharmacotherapy

Optimization of the use of currently available medication

Effectiveness of pharmacotherapy in real-life settings

Development or use of new medications for cessation or harm reduction

Specifically designed pharmacotherapy in subtypes of tobacco/nicotine users

Use of existing databases to inform the clinical use of pharmacotherapy

Policy interventions to increase use of pharmacotherapy.

The intent of the program is to fund at least 6 awards of between $50,000 and $200,000 in value, totaling $1.2 million. The awards are open to all investigators and they would strongly encourage applications from junior investigators.

Applications will be formally assessed by, and only by, the GRAND Review Committee, an independent committee comprising internationally prominent researchers in the field. The final responsibility for selection of Awardees rests with the Co-Chairs of the Review Committee, John Hughes and Karl Fagerstrom. The whole process is completely independent of Pfizer, including the final selection of Awardees.

GRAND is open to all investigators from around the world holding an MD, a PhD, or equivalent.

Applications are invited for a 3 year, full time studentship aligned to the work of NIHR CLAHRC East Midlands and the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham. A yearly stipend at current RCUK rates (£14,296) plus Home/EU tuition fees (£4,121) is available. The successful candidate will work into the CLAHRC’s Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) theme. Continue reading →